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tv   Americas Newsroom  FOX News  May 21, 2014 6:00am-8:01am PDT

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brian just asked the producer if he could end with a song. so ladies and gentlemen, brian kilmeade. >> no, my song is like nine minutes. >> that's okay. start. >> you guys have g flat. >> a keyboard? no keyboard player. >> see you tomorrow. >> right. this might be a make-or-break moment on the va scandal. breaking moments ago, president obama will meet this morning with the secretary of veterans affairsshipship in the oval -- shinseki that will happen this hour. good morning, everybody, a lot of questions on this. welcome here to "america's newsroom." good morning, martha. martha: bill, welcome back. good to have you here. i'm martha maccallum. good to have you here, everybody. this comes after you have calls for action on the part of this president that just keep growing. you have 26 facilities across six teen states. not just phoenix anymore that are under investigation by the feds yet the president has been very silent on this issue.
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>> byron york, chief political correspondent, "washington examiner." byron, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. >> the tea leaves, read them for us. the oval office meeting means what. >> this meeting was not on the schedule the white house sent for the president last night. it was added 6:00 this morning. this is a last minute thing. i think it reflects that the white house realization there is real sense of urgency about this. there is enormous bipartisan concern as martha said. these incidents of abuse have been spreading far beyond phoenix where it began. the president really hasn't said anything substantive about it. he said he was madder than hell about it. he dispatch ad deputy chief of staff, who basically nobody outside of washington has ever heard of, to deal with this scandal. i think the president realized, and white house realized this is no way to deal with something as serious as what we have here. >> to use your word, you think his handling so far has been odd. explain. >> well, veterans hold a special
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place of respect in our society. if you want to get republicans and democrats on capitol hill to agree about something, it is in the treatment of veterans. so for this to get going and to go so far without the president actually addressing it, he knows there are calls for general, secretary shinseki to resign. for the president to let this go and get no handle on it is kind of strange. >> that may change today. we'll see if that is the case. some are linking problems with the va with obamacare. how does that work? >> first of all the veterans scandal is huge scandal in itself, it is an outrage in itself but there are secondary effects. conservatives are saying the kind of scandal you see at veterans administration is what happens when you have a large, single-payer government health system. you have rationing, you have delays, you have mismanagement. that sort of thing is on the way if the federal government play as bigger and bigger role in our
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national health care. so i think the veterans scandal is, has ripples that extend far beyond just veterans affairs. >> we'll see what movement is on that today. even if shinseki goes you have problems to deal with. that is fundamental issue, big one at that. >> that's correct. thank you, bill. martha: we have more on the meeting with the president and eric shawn. you never see what happens when the boss wants to see you in his office. that is 10:00 p.m. less than an hour. new questions were raised whether president obama heard about this whole scandal earlier than the white house has admitted. turns out the white house did not find out about from news reports as jay carney first said. officials from the american legion say this whole thing, just the beginning. >> we're finding that this is the tip of the iceberg. when we call for these resignations we had no idea how deep this went. now as more and more centers come forward and whistle-blowers
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are feeling more comfortable to come out because now they feel like they're going to be protected we're seeing this is lot more widespread than we antici panel coming up when the president knew and why nothing was done initially. so that's the big question this morning. eric shinseki apparently wasn't on the schedule. got the call. the president wants to see him. we'll see what kind of action. >> you sense more will come. you get the sense a statement or speech here and why not, martha: it was a good night for mitch mcconnell who was matt bevin his challenger in kentucky.
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>> for years the powers that be in washington treated people in this state with contempt. i have a simple message for all of them. those days are numbered. [cheers and applause] martha: so mcconnell has an interesting race ahead. he will battle democratic nominee allison lundergan grimes. this is expected to be the most closely watched race in this political election season. chief political -- carl cameron. what do we know about allison lundergan grimes. >> reporter: her dad is former chairman of the party and buddy of bill clinton's. she had hillary clinton campaign for her and running foresenate and from president obama. mitch mcconnell will tie her to obamacare and obama's war on coal which is big employer on kentucky. grimes addressed obama issue if you will in her victory speech.
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>> i'm here to tell you tonight, my fellow kentuckians, i'm not an empty dress, i am not a rubberstamp and i'm not a cheerleader. i'm a strong kentucky woman who is independent thinker. >> reporter: she followed that up today with an ad that bemoans the economy and people at top of both parties in washington are the problem. veiled reference to the president. again she won't answer to any president in the ad. last night at rally no matter who she is, clear ref reins to hillary, crowd loved it and obvious omission of president obama. martha: very interesting night for her last night. obviously obamacare play as big part in all of this and big part in the oregon primary where they had pretty tough times with their health care initiative they launched. neurosurgeon monica web bewinning the republican primary. she will face democratic senator jeff merkley.
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tackling washington in her victory speech last night. here is some of that. >> the polarization in washington, d.c. is the worst it has ever been. and this vilifying of others who do not agree with us has got to stop. [applause] martha: of course how is that issue playing in oregon, carl? >> reporter: obviously has the potential to be decisive. incumbent senate democrat jeff merkley was a big cheerleader of the affordable care act and monica wehby is a strong opponent. she is pediatric neurosurgeon. that is 30 years experience in medicine. a former ama board member. so a really credible critic. oregon's health care exchange is a disaster. federal prosecutors are subpoenaing records from the state for a grand jury investigation. that could decide it. that is just the way it is. martha: very interesting to watch. swing over to georgia where the open seat will be saxby chambliss's seat in the
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senate. what went on there, carl? >> reporter: nobody got 50% so it will go to runoff. gop primary as two now in it. businessman david perdue, the former governor's cousin and candidate jack kingston. they will have couple more months to go. democrats nominated michelle nunn, daughter of former senator sam nunn. she was asked if she would have voted for obamacare recently, said in retrospect couldn't give an answer but did say she would not repeal. democrats would nominate unelectable tea partyer. kingston and perdue are mainstream establishment conservatives. runoff is july 22nd. martha: chess pieces are starting to move on the board a bit, carl. >> reporter: you bet. bill: with every primary they do, martha, as we've been pointing out, this is the big number to watch in november. this is what this election is all about. balance of power in the u.s. senate. democrats right now with 53. they have two independents that primarily vote with democrats.
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republicans now at 45. so your pickup, your magic number in order for the balance of power to shift to republicans is six. we'll watch that throughout, what, the next six, seven months right now. races like west virginia, montana, north carolina, arkansas, louisiana, those races will be front and center to see whether or not that is possibility. what do you think at home? will bub bubs win majority in the senate? send us a tweet @billhemmer, @marthamaccallum. we'll share your ideas throughout the show. martha: we just blinked and election season all over again. here we two. it will be very interesting to watch. this fox news alert for you this morning. execution of the a convicted killer postponed at last minute. russell bucklew was scheduled to die just after midnight. but supreme court justice sam alito put this on hold. garrett tenney live with this. what caused this last minute
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stay for him? >> reporter: martha, the 46-year-old suffers from a medical condition that creates tumors in his head and his neck. his attorneys argued those tumors could block the blood veins, from the cocktails going through thinks body which could cause enormous amounts of pain that would violate the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. bucklew's execution would be the first in the u.s. since a botched execution in oklahoma last month that caused an inmate to suffer for nearly 40 minutes before ultimately dying. death penalty opponents have used that case to argue against the drug cocktails that many states are now using since european companies have stopped supplying those drugs for execution. missouri says, that wouldn't be an issue for them though. they have six executions in the last year and none of those inmates had outward signs of any pain or suffering. but this execution could still go through today. if that appeal process runs out when the full supreme court reviews that case today, martha.
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martha: seems like there has been so much focus on the method of these executions lately sometimes we forget what these people were convicted of. so what exactly did bucklew do that got him here in the first place? >> reporter: a former county prosecutor in missouri said he was a pure social yo path. prosecutors say in 1996 bucklew was angry for his ex-girlfriend for leaving him. he tracked her down to the man's home and shooting her him in front of her in front of four children. he handcuffed her, raped her and shoot a state trooper who recognized him. escaped from jail. returned to the home of the ex-girlfriend's mother and beat her with a hammer before she escaped and he was arrested. the mother is disappointed at stay of execution and looking forward to this being over with. martha. >> garrett, thank you very much. bill: this scene when a school bust burst into flames. what happened with that inferno
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as it started rolling toward the oncoming traffic? show you how this plays out in a moment. >> the new details on the actor air accused of shooting his wife. what michael jays told a 911 dispatcher before police found his wife's dead body at his house. bill: seeking justice for the son that was kidnapped and killed 10 years ago. we talk to keith maupin when he asked an iraqi judge to make sure there is justice for the murder of his son. >> as you and a lot of other people followed matt for 10 years, maybe it will give them a better closure what happened to matt and who did it. to me that is what this is about. you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition inharge™.
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martha: hollywood star is now accused of murder. michael jays, who played a police officer on the very popular fx series, "the shield," is now in some real trouble with the law today. his wife was found fatally shot inside their home. there he is when he was arrested the other night. it was monday night when all this played out. police say that jays admitted to a 911 dispatcher that he had shot his wife, april jace, pictured with him here. neighbors say they heard the couple arguing before the shots were fired. officers say the couple's two young sons were in the home when all of this happened. jace is now being held on a million dollars bail. >> a fallen soldier's father might be a step closer to
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justice. 10 years after his son was captured and killed, sergeant matt maupin's convoy was attacked by insurgents and four years later his remains were found near baghdad. in 2009 a man admitted to the killing was sentenced to die but botched paperwork led to a mistrial and last week his father spoke to an iraqi judge by way of teleconference at the pentagon. that man is keith maupin. matthew's father is back with us this morning out of cincinnati. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: when we spoke two weeks ago you had yet to give testimony. the army never gave up for your son's justice and your senator, rob portman from ohio had a big hand in this as well. what did you want the judge to know? >> well, i think, to get to there, what he asked me to gas to make a statement about the convoy and what happened to matt. so we went, we went through that. and in the end what i told the
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judge was, you know, and they also have a compensation that they offered over there for, i don't know what that was all about but, you know, in the end i tell them, i come up here for two reasons. i wanted accountability and justice by the iraqi law, whatever you guys decide to do with this guy is okay by me. so i don't, you know, it's, i don't know. >> you know, keith, what did the judge tell you? did he have any questions for you? >> well, mostly he asked me, if was funny how that works. and, is that he asked me my name. and i told him keith maupin. and he asked me my son's name, keith matthew maupin. so your name is matthew? no. there was a jag officer there that helped him along what that meant, we called him matt. so from then on they called him matt and not matthew. bill: that must have been strange, testifying by way of
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teleconference at the pentagon. what a strange, strange scenario here. but what you have said, keith, is that if you can find justice forethe death of your son, that will be a victory for the iraqi people and the iraqi justice system. what do you mean by that? >> yes. well, i know for me we went there and everybody should have the same right to go to work, eat supper, play with your kid and go to bed and get up and do the same thing every day without worrying about somebody coming in and killing you. when they could come in and kill you they will be held accountable. if this helps iraqi people to be able to do that, for me, all of our guys has died will not be in vain, especially for matt and me. bill: are you pleased you went and did this. >> absolutely. i never knew what would happen up there but by iraqi law, bill, somebody killed matt. somebody from matt's family must
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come in front of a judge and make a statement and file a complaint at the same time. bill: what will the judge rule in all this, keith? >> well they told me, they will go back, and they haven't set a trial date yet but they will let me know what that is. he also said i probably could get a transcript of the trial. , after it was all said and done. bill: listen, i hope it helps you. we'll stay in touch with you just as we have over the past month or so and see where this case goes. i think it took a lot of guts and courage to go to the pentagon to talk about this which frankly haunted you every day for 10 years, keith. my best to you and your family. thank you for coming back here today. we'll talk again. >> i appreciate it, bill. bill: thank you, keith. >> thank you. martha: there is new evidence that the united states is quickly becoming a nation on the dole. a new record was just set for number of americans who are on disability. we'll talk about that. bill: it's a big number. also, it is fleet week in new york city. that is a live look at parade of
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ships to make its way down new york harbor. 1500 sail lowers and marines, coast guardsmen and women will be in manhattan. live on board one of those ships and you will see it. plus there is this. check it out. >> -- for not only this war on terror, they're fighting for their fellow soldiers. ♪. >> need, support, over. ♪. martha: amazing stuff. you will look at a powerful new documentary that gives you inside look at the dangerous mission in afghanistan. father and son film making duo who captured it all join us live. stick around, coming up. ♪. >> they gave their lives.
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bill: oh, they're breathing a sigh of relief after this one. could have been a real catastrophe. a school bus you're watching in flames. police say the driver pulled over after smelling smoke and got out safely. the flaming bus started rolling toward a fire truck. that's ironic. caused fire is being investigated. no children on board at the time. lucky again. martha: these are some very startling new numbers on the number of people in this country who are receiving disability benefits. the feds say that nearly 11 million americans are now leaning on government disability checks. it is now at an all-time high, just highshy of the population of cuba, that number is, just for point of reference. stuart varney, host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. stuart, good morning to you. >> good morning. martha: nobody begrudges people
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deservedly accepting a disability check but we know that is not the case across the board and these numbers are higher than ever. what is going on here? >> america is becoming a increasingly a welfare state. looks more and more like europe. there are vast expansions in unemployment benefits, food stamps, cash welfare. as you see on the screen an explosion in disability. during the obama years we've gone from eight million people, just about eight million people claiming social security disability payments all the way up to nearly 11 million. that is a huge explosion in disability payments. now a lot of people are taking what is called the disability option. they find a job. so they take, treat disability almost as an insurance policy against no income or no job. so you have got this explosion in disability payments. and martha, we can't afford it. martha: that is what i was going to ask you. this is an extraordinary amount of money the to the u.s. taxpayer and there is very
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little oversight how effective of a program it is and when people are better and can go back to work. really very little oversight, right? >> two points, number one, if we go on like this the social security disability trust fund, totally runs out of money by the end of 2016. that is not that far away. number two, there has been an expansion in who qualifies for disability payments. mental disorder is now acceptable. moody's order, or back pain. now, that kind of opens the door to fraud because you can't really prove a lot of that. and plus, once you get disability, you're on it for a very long time because the virtually very little inspection process to figure out who is off the disability, who has recovered. so pretty much payment for life of. we can't afford this. martha: yeah. i would think there would be some way of following up and figuring out if a disability is merited and if it is, great. if it is not, time to head back to work. but that doesn't seem to be the way that this works. >> hard to prove that you do not
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have back pain. or that you can function sexually. that is another way of claiming disability. martha: who knew that you be able to do that to go to work in the morning. >> i thought i would bring it up at the end of this report. martha: we have to think about that one. thank you, stuart. see you later. bill: part of our fox news medical a-team, stuart varney. see you at 11:00 a.m., stuart. buckle up for this one, what was found around airline seats that might have you reaching for hand sanitizer next time you fly. you have one, martha. martha: exactly. plus the head of the va has an appointment this morning to meet with the president at the white house. that will happen about 32 minutes from now. we're going to bring you live coverage of what goes on there and new questions over what the white house knew about this whole scandal and when they really started to know it. >> so, no, this is not a new issue to the president. that is why he has been focused on it since he has been president. he has been focused on improving
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service and care for our veterans. distinctions
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with president george w. bush. some will argue, brad, what took you so long, it is about time. others wonder what the meeting will be like. how he will characterize the talk with shinseki. maybe eric shinseki will not have the job after this. how the president gets in front of an issue that has grown by the day? >> bill, government should be in the position of preventing harm, not merely responding to it when it comes and the president surely knew about this way back in 2008 when he won election in transition he was warned about the deficiencies and problems at va. the current va secretary has been in the job for over five years. he certainly knew what those programs were, yet the problems are systemic. we're seeing it in dozens of hospitals. the fact the president was so late to the game. circled wagons sending his deputy chief of staff to the va which signals to me, time for the cover-up. if this va secretary is nothing but a scapegoat, and if he leaves, the problem remains. what is the president going to do? when is he going to do it?
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he is the commander-in-chief. the one ultimate responsibility for the health and safety and welfare of our troops. bill: i think that last point is the most important point, alan. i don't think you would disagree. what will be the done? >> not only do i not disagree i think the president should have been out in front of this a lot sooner. i'm also astounded that he, jay carney saying things like, well he found out about it in the media. even if that is true, don't say that i don't want to know the president is getting information maybe after i did. and this is something he need to get out in front of and, be bullish about. bill: why do you think he has been so far behind? >> i was listening to kirsten powers last night. she says this is man who appears to be disengaged. for her, she lost it when the obamacare rollout was such a disaster and they were month 1/2 behind that eight ball. >> i think the problem, look, i don't believe globally he is disengaged or that is a broad statement about this president. i think in this particular case
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this is a real issue. the problems republicans have, everything has become a scandal. this might be a real one. so they cry wolf so many times and brad will never be happy with any response of the president but this is something that does require his immediate and very bullish attention and heads probably have to roll. it should have happen adlong time ago. bill: brad, what do you think of that term, disengaged? is that how you would characterize this president, brad? >> i do, all you have to do is look at his schedule. look what the president does. the fact i will bet you, sure as i'm sitting here that the president has never had a standing meeting with the va secretary. it just doesn't happen. look at what he has done in his signature rollout of obamacare. he never met with sebelius. bill: you don't think there is a meeting on his schedule with shinseki we would find? >> i don't. bill: hang on. hang on, alan. going back how far, brad? >> i think until he became president, i think meets with his cabinet in general meetings
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every now and then for 90 minutes at a time and probably has standing meetings with the secretary of defense and state and treasury and that's about it. i think that the president has nothing to do with the va secretary assure as i'm sitting here and i scheduled the president. he has never had a one-on-one meeting on this issue until it has become a problem. bill: we'll look into it and see whether or not you're right or not. brad, back to the issue alan is raising there, what explains why you're given a heads up about this in 2008 and jay carney says i first heard about it watching television? >> look, all you have to do is look at their response to the irs, to "fast & furious." the first thing they know about it when they see it on tv. is that the kind of leadership we want where the president is reactionary? he is not a visionary, he is not a leader? the fact he has to learn what is happening in his administration by watching the news? i mean that is ludicrous. the fact is this president is
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desingauged. has a president close circle around him. same people that got him there are not necessarily the people who can keep you there and govern. bill: think about what the first lady, her cause, alan, has been the veterans of america. >> yeah. bill: we've got to run here quickly, react to brad's comments? >> i think there is so much piling on again. this is a real issue. it needs to be addressed. the president is vulnerable here and it is valid to criticize him about finding about it on the media, not doing more sooner. if he knew there were problems, since 2008, why is this coming to the fore now? he may have not known specificity of problems but he knew there were problems. why the same people in power in the va let's not pile on an conflate every single -- bill: you raise great points there. even if shinseki goes, what will be done with the problems? how will you alleviate the issues of va? when you know, gentlemen, that the veterans coming back from iraq and afghanistan, those numbers will go higher as years go by. >> they deserve better.
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they do. bill: they deserve the best. alan, thank you. brad, thank you to you as as well. breaking news on "america's newsroom." one hour we'll see the president live in the briefing room. martha. martha: that raises a big question we're all waiting for. what will president obama say when he comes out at 10:45 this morning? what type of actions will be taken and will those words be followed by action? we'll talk to colonel ralph peters about that coming up moments away. bill: it is fleet week. we want to say thank you to the men and women serving u.s. navy, marine corps, coast guard, just about everyone up and down the line. you will be live with us on board the uss oak hill this morning. >> great sight on hudson river. we love it when they come in. woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days.
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martha: we are back. we've got breaking news on the va scandal this morning. we're now hearing president obama will step forward and make a statement at 10:45 a.m. eastern this morning which we will bring to you live of course. that will come after he wraps up his meeting with the secretary of veterans affairs eric shinseki, who you see pictured with him on the right-hand side of your screen. this statement comes weeks after the news of mistreatment much vets first broke. everyone involved said they were waiting for investigation to be completed. the president said really surprise this morning, 6:00 a.m. a change in his schedule he would sit down and talk to him today. we'll see what that means. we're joined by loot colonel ralph peters, fox news strategic analyst. good to have you with us this
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morning, colonel. >> thank you, martha. martha: you say you support eric shinseki. do you expect that the president is going to fire him this morning? >> well, i hope not because martha, i will tell you, the veterans administration is never, never, going to have a better, more honorable and dedicated boss than eric shinseki. he is not the problem. the problem has been that, in the federal system, whether civil service or federal unions, you can't get rid of the dead wood, you can't get rid of scrammers, you can't get rid of the bums. by the way, it is very hard to hire quality people. now general shinseki undo 350 years of neglect and underfunding in five years. he actually made progress. while the va has a lot of room for improvement and you've got to get the bad actors out of there like people in phoenix, nonetheless i have to say i think the media has been very
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one-sided. my personal friends get treated by the va system i don't know one that feels they had inferior treatment. that doesn't mean we can't do better. just more complex. again, shinseki has been the whipping boy. stand back at look at general shinsekiship, former army chief of staff. a wounded warrior himself. a half a foot blown off from landmine in vietnam. what impresses me about general shinseki, i'm not a personal friend of his, what impresses me as a four-star general he didn't do what so many four-star generals and admirals do, he didn't get out and sell his soul to the defense industry, take home millions every year. he took one ever the most thankless jobs in washington because he cares about veterans and i will say what i said at beginning, careful what you wish for. the va is never going to get a better boss than eric shinseki. martha: that may be true but we now have 26 different facilities that have complaints. you've got veterans organizations, from the iraq and
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afghanistan wars. you've got, you know, the american legion, everybody who should be supporting him saying they think he needs to step down. what happened to the captain of the ship philosophy here? this has happened on his watch. and i understand what you're saying, that he is served his country well and that many people have a good experience there but when you look at these widows who are screaming their husband could not get any service at the va hospital, doesn't that tell you that something needs to change? >> well, it does, and i just said, we need to be able to fire bad actors but the president, president obama and his administration doesn't want to take on civil service, they don't want to take on federal unions. and, shinseki has done his best. i always ask people, the people who want to hang shinseki from the yard arm, tell me who you want to replace him with? we need a strong outside manager. give me a name because people are not lining up to be head of the va. martha: that's true. >> if i were shinseki i would
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have quit long ago out of sheer frustration. i admire his fortitude. but you know, at end of the day, whether you think he has done a good job or a bad job, general shinseki cares about our wounded veterans. he is a wounded veteran. >> i understand that. i understand that and we respect his service greatly. and i hear what you are saying about the levels and the depth of ther rogues and decay and bureaucracy that no doubt exists in this organization and many others. i guess the problem is, you know when you look over the course, jim nicholson, go all the way back, right, where is the person who has been screaming from the rafters, look what is going on inside of this organization? you need to change it and forcing powers that be to get involved and to allow them to get rid of some of that dead wood. is that virtually impossible? is that what you're telling us? >> it is as long as no politician in either party is willing to take on hiring and firing practices in the federal government. but i think you just hit on
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something important too. general shinseki does have one deficiency when it comes to dealing with the public and media. he is a very taciturn man. he is reticent. he doesn't cry in public. everybody wanted to see him weep in front of a senate panel. he is a very reserved man. unfortunately in this media age, where it is all sensation all the time, people don't understand quiet discipline anymore. now shinseki may well go but my god, if he goes i tell you i will salute that man because i believe he has done his best. >> i understand, i understand what you're saying. we have to really, you know, as we've said here today and yesterday, if he does go, that is just the beginning. i mean you need to institute the change that has to happen to clean up this system and you know, this has been going on since vietnam, these horror stories of what happens. you point out and point well-taken, that many people get good service. we want every single one of them to get good service.
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>> we all agree with that. martha: thank you very much. great to talk to you as always. bill: 16 minutes away. we'll see in the briefing room. 12 and 13 minutes we'll see you here live on fox. new details on an american imprisoned in iran because of his christian faith. reports about pastor saeed abedini and the nightmare he is still living through in iran. martha: the war in afghanistan like we've never seen it before. we are about to bring you some of an intense documentary that follows our troops in real time on the front lines when we come back. >> hot, hot, hot. [gunfire] go, go, go. [gunfire] ♪. go, go, go.
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bill: the mission was supposed to be a single day. it turned into nine days of fierce combat, all captured on camera by a father and son reporter team and brought to you in a new movie. it is called "the hornet's nest." the first time you're about to watch it. ♪ >> hey, z? >> what's up? >> give me ice on that bridge at your 11. -- eyes. [gunfire] >> [shouting] bill: on and on and it goes from there with me. war correspondent, mike bet cher and his son a correspondent.
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gentlemen, welcome to both of you. "the hornet's nest." let's start from the beginning, what was it like to have your son in a war zone as your colleague? >> i was scared to death. but carlos, when i decided to go tell these stories and stay there for two years he insisted he would come with me. at 22 years old. he said, pop, this is something i can make a difference in this country. and, i was scared a lot. several times i thought he was dead and he thought i was dead. bill: we mentioned the battle lasted nine days but you were there for two years. >> two years. bill: carlos, you as well but you saw your father, he was skipping town all the time. he missed birthdays and holidays and one after the other. and now, you're not working at a firm down the street. you're in a war with him. >> well you know, growing up like that, you wonder what is so important? why is he missing my birthday? why is he missing christmas? going out there, working with him, seeing the ticket to
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history that he has lived his entire life, it made me understand my dad a lot more and brought us closer together. bill: listen that comes through too in the film. "the hornet's nest," as we mentioned was supposed to be a one-day strike. it lasted nine days. what went so wrong? >> we landed in middle of taliban command-and-control on pakistan border. there were 500 taliban there. and it. bill: the force that was expected was smaller, in the beginning but it was 500. we were surrounded. it took us nine days to fight our way out and six of our buddies died. you stare that sacrifice in the face with this film. that is what this film does. it will connect you with that sacrifice. bill: i had read where this will help the veterans share their story so people understand what they have been through. is that true, carlos? >> well, for at love these nice, they come home and they don't want to talk about it and their
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loved ones see the war has had a profound impact on them. they have got no real way to look in and see what happened. "the hornet's nest" gives loved ones a window into the lives of the soldiers, sailers, airmen, marines that they hold so dear and what happened to them over there. it just helps with that understanding. bill: now you think about the veterans issues that we've been watching, i mean this scandal that has been going on for years but only been in the headlines for a month. >> if you're angry now about what is happening with the va, wait until you see this movie, you will really be mad. you will be horrified. this, americans to their credit, say, thank you for your service you about they don't really know what they're thanking these servicemen for. that's why we went out there for two years to shoot this. and, i'm horrified at what -- bill: mike, you said we're a nation of war. people say we're a nation at war. you go on to say we're not a nation at war. >> no. bill: you have a few people at war and everybody goes on and
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lives their life. >> more than 99% of this country does not feel the pain of war. that is less than 1% does feel it. that's why we made this film. there is an epidemic of disconnection and benign neglect. people don't want to see actually that sacrifice, face it head on. bill: you're about to see this open nationwide. my best of luck to both of you, gentlemen. thanks for sharing your story today. mike bet cher, carlos, thank you very much. good luck getting word out there. it is a powerful, powerful message. >> thanks a lot. bill: thank you, gentlemen. martha: martha what's next? got a live look for you at the white house briefing room. this is where president obama will deliver a statement in the next hour after meets with va secretary shinsekiship. secretary shinseki just arrived at the white house we are told. we will have complete coverage on his future around the future of the va coming up next. they think salmon and energy.
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martha: we are back. we have a fox news alert because because the president is set to speak later this hour. he is meeting now with the veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki. that is how we start this new hour of "america's newsroom." busy morning. bill: good morning. all this is a scandal over the conduct grows bigger every day. before making a statement, his huddling in the oval office, but secretary shinseki and others. the president has been under fire for remaining silent for so long on this growing scandal. today we will hear about 45 minutes from now what he has to say. senior white house correspondent wendell goldberg live at the north lawn. what is happening at the moment? >> these have been the president's first comments on the scandal since answer a
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question from my colleague ed henry when the story first broke. there have been calls for secretary shinseki's resignation. also some republicans saying he should stay on the job and fix the problem. they are concerned if he resigns, the focus will shift to his replacement instead of fixing the problems. there is a shot of the secretary's car arriving here. deputy chief of staff, mr. obama is sending him to phoenix later today. phoenix is where we got the first reports of them falsify the amount of time they have had to wait for medical care. 46 facilities are being investigated over wait times and other issues. the president had been under pressure to take charge of this scandal. even a disabled veteran in illinois said she wanted mr. obama to get personally involved. republicans wanted to own the
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scandal. he is the commander in chief. eric cantor said yesterday it is time for the president to take responsibility for this. the obama transition team was told even before the president took the oval office that the wait times were unreliable. at the same time they have denied they simply throw money at the problem. the secretary says it is still unclear if this is a problem that is systemwide, they have 1700 facilities or if it is more isolated to the dozens being investigated for gaming the system. it is clear the medical records system is outdated, they simply do not talk to each other. bill: jay carney said he heard about it on television and another report the transition team going into the first term late 2008, early 2009, how do
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they square that? >> the transition team there's a lot of things. it is not clear how much of that gets to the president's desk. you would expect as commander-in-chief being warned the wait times are unreliable is something he would have asked to be looked into. it is unclear how much a priority that was. as far as why they are not aware the va was gaming the system, i can't explain that. they took whistleblowers to bring it to the floor, and officials here say the secretary tried to deal with it when he was made aware of it, but the anger over the past several weeks has been pushed to the president to get personally involved.
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martha: we are joined now by the fox news digital politics editor, good morning to you. so we do not expect this meeting will take place this morning to include this meeting with eric shinseki. jay carney handed something was moving. do we know what is moving yet? >> one would expect eric shinseki is moving out of his office whether it is today or in the near term. recent revelations have is for the previous white house approach to this which was to lament general problems and the veterans administration on the veterans affairs saying the president is as shocked as anybody and move forward to prepare it. whether it was the irs, benghazi, whatever it was, we
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lament things are difficult and we want to fix them going forward. in this case not only is the damage particularly bad from a political point of view because these are veterans were talking about, this is something for which neither democrat or republican will stand, but we have seen the white house timeline on this shredded as they have gone forward, and it just won't hold up. martha: jay carney was in a difficult position again saying the president learned about this in his reports and had to, out to say no, we were aware of th this. he has had to do a difficult dance around this, yet what they have said is they are looking into it as he pointed out. there was an investigation going on, they don't want to jump the gun when they don't know exactly what has happened. and it makes you wonder, is this meeting brought on by
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mr. shinseki this morning? or is this the other way around? >> the president is eager to get back out on the campaign trail. he has all kinds of stuff he wants to go do to keep his party in power this fall. you can't do any of that stuff with a massive scandal like this burning and churning away. the president needs to address this. in the past avoided holding senior officials in his administration for serious breaches. on this one though, and here's the deal, if you accept the final iteration of the white house story on this that the president always cared about this issue, always warned of albums with the va, but he was somehow kept from knowing of something clearly and demonstrated to have been demonstrated inside the upper echelon of the agency, if he was kept from knowing that, people
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under him need to be fired because they kept him from knowing something that was reportedly very important to him. martha: it never would have come out if it with them for these that came out blown the whistle on what they were seeing in the hospital. at first it was just phoenix, now you have 26 facilities across this country. he was sticking up for the va essentially saying he didn't know anybody in his vast circle of friends, but as you say politically it only takes, you don't want one veteran to suffer. it is inhumane, immoral and politically difficult, correct? >> it is not as democrats saying the vast majority of veterans are well cared for, but if anybody lighted and ha that resulted in the denial of care or the mr. visitation of who was receiving care, which veterans
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were receiving care, that is a massive fraud perpetrated against the trust of the american people who sleep soundly at night knowing they are fulfilling their obligation to veterans if the government is in fulfilling that, heads have to roll, serious consequences must be incurred. martha: we know there was pressure at the white house to improve things at the va. the fallback answer was to put money back into the va to make it work better because that is what was necessary. now we see more money did not solve the problem and at least 9000, $10,000 of it went to the phoenix situation because she got a bonus for doing such a good job of moving things along, right? >> if you are rewarded for gaming the system, onus is will not be a very good idea. this answer is essentially the republicans fault because they won't give more money.
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it was he answered with the irs. they're screwing up by accident because they don't have enough resources. we hear it over and over and over again. ultimately for american people have a reasonable expectation that place in position with authority at the president's behest will be held to account, personally punished if they get the job done. martha: the parallels that are being drawn between obamacare and this already sort of microcosm of the federal health care systems.
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bill: he says if shinseki goes, who do you replace him with which mark you better get some be very effective to sorting this out. money has never been issued, the budget is there. care, attention, making sure the problems are sorted out. we will see the president 35 minutes away inside the briefing room. another day another recall. problems will not stop. recalling 200,000 chevy from 2004-2008 model years over possible fire risks. it brings the total number of vehicles with dangerous flaws to almost 14 million. the company says they are working on a plan to fix this latest issue. martha: a big night setting up thstorylines for the midterm elections. mitch mcconnell easily winning
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his primaries so you have him on one side of the picture, but a fierce battle with the woman you see on the left-hand side of the screen, so how much will president obama playing the senate race in kentucky? bill: and 9/11 museum opening to the public and boy is it stunning inside. but it was a lavish party outside that has people outraged. plus this. martha: police drama caught on camera, what made an officer jump off a bridge and how he is doing now.
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bill: more crews now headed to a wildfire burning in northern arizona. at a state park cause evacuations of 100 homes and businesses. wind fueling the flames. firefighters say there battling it on the ground. >> it is burning hot. we are doing what we can to corral it and get out ahead of it. bill: authorities believe a person sparked the fire. that would be arson. no reports of injuries thus far.
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martha: a big night for what may refer to as republican establishment at the senate minority leader mcconnell bested his tea party backed primary opponent. a big win for senator mitch mcconnell. his biggest test you have to be against his next challenger. the democrats. they are both taking swipes at each other during the victory speeches last night. here's a bit of that. >> my opponent is in this race because barack obama and harry reid want her to be in this race. there is a reason, my friends, a reason every hollywood liberal is sending her a check. >> we all know washington is broken, it is not working for kentucky, after 30 years it is mitch mcconnell at the center of the gridlock of destruction and extreme partisanship we see. i will answer to the people of this state, i won't answer to the president no matter who he or she might be.
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martha: carl rove is a fox news contributor. karl, good morning to you. so what do you make of that race? clearly a formidable candidate in kentucky. >> she is, and remember we think of kentucky as reliable republican state, which it is that a presidential level now, but in 2000 was one of the 14 battle ground states. one elected in 1967, one elected in 2001, the statewide election officials in the capital are democrats exception of one. there have been three republicans who have occupied as additional office. we'll be in the fight of his life.
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they want him defeated, that is evidence to the people of kentucky. which is why the comment the presidenpresident will not be ae in this race's name is not in the ballot the little bit in the defensive measure that will not go over too well. martha: it will be an expensive race, clearly one to watch in november. now there will be a republican runoff for the primary race. tell us what you see there, karl. >> we have to go good candidates in the runoff. either could win, it will be what is between now and july runoff how do they conduct themselves and do they come up with a lot of scar tissue having lost a lot of lead. my hope is and my sense is theyt probably will not. interesting story is how many more georgians voted in republican statewide primary then voted in the democratic primary and how abou bad the lat
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month has been the democrat who says she doesn't know how she would have voted on obamacare, if you this is a she approves or disapproves the president. this is the quandary the democrats are in. a fresh face, he wants to distance yourself from the president but by doing things like a don't know if i would have voted for obamacare or not, you don't make up a lot of ground with people who don't like obamacare and you lose a little bit with the democrats who do like it. it doesn't get you a long way with people who disapprove of the president and it is a little bit of an irritant of the true believers in the president. martha: the narrative from your side appears to be republicans are united, this is not tea party versus establishment issue. i know you wrote a piece about that recently. if you read what democrats are saying this morning, they are saying the tea party is in
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charge of the republican party and they have won. >> that is baloney. let's take a look at both instances. kentucky four years ago rand paul when the primary with 60% of the votes. last night mitch mcconnell won with 60% of the vote. neither instance was a candidate supported by one element of the coalition of makes up the republican party. rand paul won because he had conservatives, national defense conservatives, social conservatives, libertarians. he had elements of all of those. that is why each one of them who represent a different strain of republican party, different emphasis got 60% of the vote. a candidate that can project a message that goes outside of one group and draws others in. in georgia the candidate most closely identified with the tea party, commerce and paul brown,
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got 10% of the vote. if you take a look at purdue and kingston, both of them were able to have significant elements of the different groups that make up the republican coalition. martha: thank you very much. see you soon. bill: they say they were shot up, discarded like meat. nfl stars like jim mcmahon suing the nfl say we gave out painkillers like candy and lied about injuries. do they have a case? martha: growing concern of the safety of an american pastor being prisoner in one of the worst prisons in iran after he was pulled out of his hospital bed and beaten according to his family and then sent back to the notorious prison. >> our family is suffering. i am hoping the kids don't know about the eight-year sentence
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and what that means. i'm hoping i won't ever have to tell them and we can work together and bring them home. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu. mayo? corn dogs?
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martha: we are back with this dramatically ove of a police ofr jumping off a bridge to avoid a drunk driver. watch this layout. wow. it all started as a routine traffic stop, a drunk driver slammed into the back of a car that was being pulled over. the officer jumped over the divider and fell 30 feet to the ground. he suffered serious injuries and is expected to be in the hospital for several weeks. the driver has been charged with intoxicated assault. bill: another big lawsuit taking aim at the nfl with more than
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600 former players including the super bowl champion chicago bears quarterback jim mcmahon accusing physicians for handing out pain pills like "candy at halloween" and like them about severe injuries and they are suffering consequences for a lifetime. good morning to you. i think the concussion story has been out there for a while. there has been a measure of success brought on by the former players require some money although not entirely just yet, but what is the legal case that this group of players has rights now that says they forced us to take painkillers and keep putting on the uniform and going on the field? the legal case is what? >> i am not a lawyer, but we will hear from quite a few before this is over. they filed this case in class-action now. they were not given a choice, they got hooked on this stuff
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and kept spitting them out there without the proper diagnosis. some of these go back several decades. the claims now go forward. i would find it very hard to believe a guy didn't know he had a broken leg. you can be headed anything you want, some point regardless of what the culture's family have to decide to take it. bill: this is their financial stream, this is how they make their living, they want to be on the yield. provided operas, downers, you name it by the nfl. after my career was homeless. never took a drug in my life and i became a junkie in the nfl. we will hear that from the former players. what does the league do, how hard do they fight? >> they will vigorously defend
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this. i am sure there are instances are things like this that happen and some of these drugs are addictive, have been than regular life and the national football league and because this will now be case-by-case, it will unfold, we will hear a lot of untold stories and an awful lot of stories making all of us cringe because it is a game we like to watch, it is the passion of the united states, a lot of fans watch these guys play. they want to be on the field, they want to compete. the life span is short of the national football league, there's always somebody behind them, the blood pressure on themselves much more so than any doctor or any coach or anybody who might be wanting them to be out on the field. when you hear stories, you see he has become an addict, how much of it is because of what he
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had to do to be on the field. bill: it is a tough sport and these men know what. martha: big news as president obama is set to break his silence on the scale that has unfolded throughout this week and last week. the meeting happening right now the va secretary at the white house speaking to the president, so what will the outcome be? we expect a live news conference and we will bring you that as soon as it gets underway. we will see what we are hearing this morning when we are coming back. [ female announcer ] there's a gap out there.
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bill: i mentioned this last hour, only minutes away from the hearing from the president on the hearing of the veteran scandal. he will make a statement, his first significant statement on the controversy in the white house. he is still meeting with the va secretary eric shinseki. we believe that meeting is still underway. bret baier is with me now. good morning. >> good morning. bill: we assume the meeting is still underway. what is your sense as to where this is going? speak of this has been growing pressure for the president to address this head on.
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you said already in a couple of news conferences overseas, and the fervor on capitol hill is tough, you can't overstate it because lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are really engaged in this issue, it crosses party lines and is very emotional. now they have expanded to 26 facilities, at least 26 and the allegations of these been depleted wait times some getting bonuses for these fraudulent documents essentially that veterans got when they didn't or the wait times shorter when they didn't see doctors for months. with the president says will be key whether this is an announcement of resignation or staying ahead, is also meeting with the white house deputy of staff who has been passed by the white house to look into all of these investigations one by one,
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and that is interesting as well, they have to have their own independent look at these various investigations. bill: the va wanted to look better, if the services was given the veterans was better than they were actually receiving. and allegations because some of the wait times died as a result of that. that is just a heavy, heavy charge. shinseki is the face of this. whether he stays or goes, this white house has to come up with solutions to the current problem. what are you hearing about how far they have to go on that or how far they have moved on? >> not much. this is a huge, huge issue, and obviously pointing out it goes back to before president obama took office, it has been an expanding problem as more
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veterans come home from iraq and afghanistan and the aging baby boomers dealing with a host of health issues and this system has just expanded exponentially. like 85 million visits per year around the country. but this particular incident after the president talked about on the campaign trail in 2007, 2008, talked about it again in 2009, 2011 in front of va groups he would fix this specific problem. in 2014 this is a major problem for this administration. bill: a lot of veterans make that charge. thank you, brett. we are on standby with the president. martha: as we wait for that, 9/11 museum's opening to the public today and there is a new controversy bubbling up this morning. outrage over the sacred grounds
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the poorly turned into a private nightclub last night with vip drinking and socializing well first responders were turned away when they tried to get in that last day because they were trying to prepare for that event. welcome. i was reminded of how sensitive every single issue is with this day, with his memory, with the family. are they write about this particular charge? >> this museum is just so inspiring, can't help but breakdown when you go there and when you see it, it is a living testimony to the heroic efforts of first responders to come in and try to save people from
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those who lost their lives. it is something that will always be remembered. it is unfortunate there was a party being held for having raised over $400 million to make this incredible testimony to the heroics and to the tragedy of 9/11. those who gave their lives, lost their lives and the tragedy so we should always remember, it is a testimony to them. switch was not a wild party just getting willy-nilly, but it was to thank those people who contributed almost a half a billion dollars over $450 million to make this memorial a living testimony to this tragedy, something we should never remember. what is unfortunate, but again
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let's look at the totality of it. i can see how first responders would be annoyed or angered by not having access at that particular time. martha: it probably could have been manageable to have them come through the museum making those preparations for the party and perhaps that should have been handled differently. one of the issues is the remains that are part of the museum. we spoke to people who did not want the unidentified remains to be at that spot. they wanted a separate spot outside the museum i can to the tune of the unknown where people could be reverend and respectful of those remains separate from the museum. that is why he will continue to see these kind of issues, up. >> i think that is what i can still be addressed, that is
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legitimate question raised by families as to what is the proper place for those remains to be. i think reasonable people can disagree on this, and i might feel very strongly there should be a separate entity outside giving reverence to them. but certainly was undertaken with the greatest of the koran, there was no attempt to keep this from people, and unfortunately you have contrasting views here. this is for loss of life, the tragedy that took place and will be there as a constant reminder for us. martha: no doubt it will need continued fundraising to stay open and to be there for everyone to experience.
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the greatest sign of respect is to go, bring your family and experience this extraordinary tribute to all of those who were lost on that awful, awful day. thank you for talking with us this morning, always good to see you. bill: moments away we both of the president of the veterans scandal. and detained in iran, we're now hearing he has been sent from a hospital back to prison. >> i couldn't explain to him why he was taken to prison. they kept saying does daddy not love us anymore? does daddy not want to hear our voice anymore? ñ
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martha: we do expect the president will walk into the briefing room any moment now. they have been meeting with eric shinseki. we cannot report whether or not he has left the building at this point. as you can see the reporters are preparing for this briefing will get underway any moment. now let's join chris wallace with his thoughts on what we can expect perhaps this morning. what do you make of all of this? >> obviously he is going extract grave concern with the condition at the va, but this has reached
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a tipping point. they went to visit with house democrats yesterday and apparently got an earful distressed with the situation as the scandal spreads across the country. it was the lead in "the new york times" today. jon stewart often a supporter of barack obama was speaking out against it. very interesting interview in the "washington post" today. a congresswoman from illinois, a veteran herself worked in the va during the beginning of the obama administration lost both of her legs as a helicopter pilot in iraq. she was quoted as saying we could use personal attention from the president. the his silence on this, he had only spoken out publicly once an answer to the question by the foreign trip weeks ago in asia. it was a deafening silence on the commander in chief to speak out on this. so it seems if anything was
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overdue, he would say with the feelings are about the scandal and what he can do about it. there was considerable concern from republicans would say this shows the presidents incompetence. but for this white house more tellingly the distress on the part of democrats this is a nonpartisan issue with respect for the veterans and the desire to do something, to make sure they are not being mistreated. martha: that may begin to move the ball on this. 23 days since the president was first asked about this. it does ask the question of how things work in the west wing and why they would not want to be out in front of this sooner. the question comes back again and again for this administration, chris. you have to wonder if they are rethinking their strategy on these things. >> you can say they didn't know
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the fact, they wanted to know the fact, but after shinseki's performance last week where jon stewart said when he talked about this being mad as hell and running out of orange juice, letting the va talk about it, letting the people down the line take care of it wasn't doing the job for the administration and they need the president to express his concern. whether he will do anything more than express concern will be the interesting thing if he will make a change at the top of the va, what in a specific sense will he do to make sure the veterans did not continue to wait for weeks, months, in some cases more than a year. some of them dying while they're waiting to get care at veterans hospitals. it is a growing issue, a growing scandal, and the president has to be out in front of it.
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martha: you put your finger on it, a lot of people have said even if shinseki goes, the big question is what happens after that. now nobody will be satisfied with that alone if that even happens, we don't know that it will at this point, the has to be some sort of plan to cut through the bureaucracy, to make these systems and hospitals for veterans move more smoothly, to grease the wheels of this system which is very, very rusty. >> of the president says we will wait for investigation, they will mention the fact they had to be chief of staff to go on to see what happened bringing in an outsider to try and help with
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the obamacare website. that was going nowhere. i don't think that is going to feed the bulldog anymore as the saying goes. they will have more actions planned to describe how they will deal with this and make sure tomorrow if somebody wants care, they will get care. bill: kiersten powers was talking last night, she was struck by president that disengaged. the tipping point for her as an admitted democrat, she said that was a reaction to obamacare rollout that really turned her off. so she came up with that word "disengaged." i don't know what the consent is, but when it takes this long to react to what has grown into a scandal that crosses party lines, republican, democratic, you name it, why be so distant
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putting yourself on top of the issue, getting in front of it and making sure people know i am the commander-in-chief and things will change down. >> it is interesting because as you are saying that, i am thinking of how i want to respond to that, the white house has had a go to plan in how they deal with these issues. i saw clips on "the five" last night were the initial response seems to be the president says we learned about it in the press, which is puzzling right there. the commander in chief is learning about it like all of us from the press. why is that? an ounce investigatiothey annou.
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either time passes and it gets sold or time passes that it doesn't get solved. it is awfully cynical, but it is generally what they done wha but is a ghazi were fast and furious, it has worked for the president, he has not gotten hurt i it in many of these cases. particularly because the outrages so bipartisan, democrats are just as upset about this. and liberal democrat like the center from connecticut saying they should get the fbi involved in the investigation in this, it does not follow party lines. they may feel the president can't say i am madder than hell and leave it at that. again we're kind of speculating what is the president actually going to do. bill: he can come out and pound the podium and get out in front of it and the whole conversation changes but what you are
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explaining is a management style, does that work on behalf of the white house or just the president? >> i don't know that there is a difference between the two. more a political damage control style which is to say the president didn't know about it. he is very distressed about it, and after that initial expression of distress, think about all these cases, perfect example trying to divorce the president as much as possible from the problem so he does not get tired with the messy details of it. whether or not they will try the playbook again here, and whether or not it will work we will have to see. the first thing we will see is what he says. martha: a couple of things that make this awkward, michelle obama has spent a lot of her time working on the issues of
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veterans families. it raises the question why of these things were going on, maybe they would have been an opportunity to be a more forceful voice and taking better care of our vets. >> it is also joe biden, the wife of the president. this has been perhaps the signature cause has been reaching out to veteran families. so this has been on the doorstep of the white house for a long time, not the va problems, but the issue of trying to help veteran families. it is personal in a sense for the obama's, and i don't know they want to, but shape irresponsibility and involvement in this, the accountability even if they were to want to. exactly right on that, martha. martha: the other thing is health care.
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saying we may be on our way to a more national health care system, we have exchanges across the country orchestrated at the federal level, but it is a mini version of it and does not seem to working very well. >> they were coming from the conservative side of the aisle than from the democrats. they're certainly drawing that parallel. for the vast majority of obamacare, a government insurance system or a government run insurance system but it is still private care. some liberals want it, conservatives are saying there were a lot of problems with obamacare, a lot of democrats would like to see a single-payer system, this is a single-payer system. you see a doctor paid by the government and one of the questions people have raised is do they have an incentive to csa patients as possible given the fact they will get the same
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salary whether they see 10 patients or 20 patients during the day. that is something that have been pointing out. bigger than that is a whole question of competence and whether it is obamacare or the irs or the va, you get a lot of people saying there is an administration that has pushed the idea of big government, is a classic case where it has worked miserably. we have been problems long before this president, he has dramatically increased the budget, he has promised to fix it, and he hasn't. martha: thank you very much. we will get to that and we will be right back. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®.
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>> as expected. here is the president, white house briefing room. >> who he temporarily as signed to work with secretary shinseki and the va. we focused on two issues. the allegations of misconduct at veterans affairs facilities and our broader mission of caring
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for our veterans and their families. as commander-in-chief i have the honor of standing with our men and women in uniform at every step of their service, from the moment they take their oath to when our troops prepare to deploy to afghanistan where they put their lives on the line for our security, to their bedside as our wounded warriors fight to recover from terrible injuries. the most searing moments of my presidency have been going to walter reed or bethesda or bagram, and meeting troops who have left a part of themselves on the battlefield and their spirit and their determination to recover and often to serve again is always an inspiration. so these men and women and their families are the best that our country has to offer. they have done their duty and
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they ask nothing more than this country does ours. that we uphold our sacred trust to all who have served. so when i hear allegations of misconduct, any misconduct, whether is allegations of va staff covering up long wait times, or cooking the books, i will not stand for it. not as commander-in-chief, but also not as an american. none of us should. so, if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and i will not tolerate it, period. here's what i discussed with secretary shinseki this morning. first, anybody found to have manipulated or falsified records at va facilities has to be

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